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Tong RL, Kahn UN, Grafe LA, Hitti FL, Fried NT, Corbett BF. Stress circuitry: mechanisms behind nervous and immune system communication that influence behavior. Front Psychiatry 2023; 14:1240783. [PMID: 37706039 PMCID: PMC10495591 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1240783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2023] [Accepted: 08/16/2023] [Indexed: 09/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Inflammatory processes are increased by stress and contribute to the pathology of mood disorders. Stress is thought to primarily induce inflammation through peripheral and central noradrenergic neurotransmission. In healthy individuals, these pro-inflammatory effects are countered by glucocorticoid signaling, which is also activated by stress. In chronically stressed individuals, the anti-inflammatory effects of glucocorticoids are impaired, allowing pro-inflammatory effects to go unchecked. Mechanisms underlying this glucocorticoid resistance are well understood, but the precise circuits and molecular mechanisms by which stress increases inflammation are not as well known. In this narrative review, we summarize the mechanisms by which chronic stress increases inflammation and contributes to the onset and development of stress-related mood disorders. We focus on the neural substrates and molecular mechanisms, especially those regulated by noradrenergic signaling, that increase inflammatory processes in stressed individuals. We also discuss key knowledge gaps in our understanding of the communication between nervous and immune systems during stress and considerations for future therapeutic strategies. Here we highlight the mechanisms by which noradrenergic signaling contributes to inflammatory processes during stress and how this inflammation can contribute to the pathology of stress-related mood disorders. Understanding the mechanisms underlying crosstalk between the nervous and immune systems may lead to novel therapeutic strategies for mood disorders and/or provide important considerations for treating immune-related diseases in individuals suffering from stress-related disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rose L. Tong
- Corbett Laboratory, Department of Biology, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, United States
| | - Ubaidah N. Kahn
- Fried Laboratory, Department of Biology, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, United States
| | - Laura A. Grafe
- Grafe Laboratory, Department of Psychology, Bryn Mawr College, Bryn Mawr, PA, United States
| | - Frederick L. Hitti
- Hitti Laboratory, Department of Neurological Surgery and Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, United States
| | - Nathan T. Fried
- Fried Laboratory, Department of Biology, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, United States
| | - Brian F. Corbett
- Corbett Laboratory, Department of Biology, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, United States
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Remes O, Mendes JF, Templeton P. Biological, Psychological, and Social Determinants of Depression: A Review of Recent Literature. Brain Sci 2021; 11:1633. [PMID: 34942936 PMCID: PMC8699555 DOI: 10.3390/brainsci11121633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2021] [Revised: 11/08/2021] [Accepted: 11/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Depression is one of the leading causes of disability, and, if left unmanaged, it can increase the risk for suicide. The evidence base on the determinants of depression is fragmented, which makes the interpretation of the results across studies difficult. The objective of this study is to conduct a thorough synthesis of the literature assessing the biological, psychological, and social determinants of depression in order to piece together the puzzle of the key factors that are related to this condition. Titles and abstracts published between 2017 and 2020 were identified in PubMed, as well as Medline, Scopus, and PsycInfo. Key words relating to biological, social, and psychological determinants as well as depression were applied to the databases, and the screening and data charting of the documents took place. We included 470 documents in this literature review. The findings showed that there are a plethora of risk and protective factors (relating to biological, psychological, and social determinants) that are related to depression; these determinants are interlinked and influence depression outcomes through a web of causation. In this paper, we describe and present the vast, fragmented, and complex literature related to this topic. This review may be used to guide practice, public health efforts, policy, and research related to mental health and, specifically, depression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Olivia Remes
- Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FS, UK
| | | | - Peter Templeton
- IfM Engage Limited, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0FS, UK;
- The William Templeton Foundation for Young People’s Mental Health (YPMH), Cambridge CB2 0AH, UK
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Peeters DGA, Lange WG, von Borries AKL, Franke B, Volman I, Homberg JR, Verkes RJ, Roelofs K. Threat-Avoidance Tendencies Moderate the Link Between Serotonin Transporter Genetic Variation and Reactive Aggression. Front Behav Neurosci 2020; 14:562098. [PMID: 33132858 PMCID: PMC7549659 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2020.562098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2020] [Accepted: 08/28/2020] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The short (S) allele of the serotonin transporter-linked promoter region (5-HTTLPR) polymorphism has been linked to reactive aggression in men, but this association is less consistent in females. Reactive aggression has been particularly described as a result of fear-driven defense to threat, but how this interaction between defensive behavior and aggression is expressed in S-allele carriers remains unknown. In order to explore this interplay between 5-HTTLPR genotype, defensive behavior and reactive aggression, we combined genotyping with objective measures of action tendencies toward angry faces in an approach-avoidance task (AAT) and reactive aggression in the Taylor aggression paradigm (TAP) in healthy females, N = 95. This study shows that female S-allele carriers in general display increased implicit reactive aggression (administering aversive white noise) toward opponents. Furthermore, we found that threat-avoidance tendencies moderate the association between 5-HTTLPR genotype and aggression displayed on the TAP. Together, these findings indicate a positive correlation between avoidance of angry faces in the AAT and reactive aggression in the TAP exclusively present in S-allele carriers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deborah G. A. Peeters
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Department of Psychiatry, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Wolf-Gero Lange
- Department of Clinical Psychology, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - A. Katinka L. von Borries
- Department of Psychocardiology, Clinic for Internal Medicine and Cardiology, Bergmannsheil und Kinderklinik Buer GmbH, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
- Institute for Stressmedicine, ISM Rhein Ruhr, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
| | - Barbara Franke
- Department of Psychiatry, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Department of Human Genetics, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Inge Volman
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Judith R. Homberg
- Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Robbert-Jan Verkes
- Department of Psychiatry, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, Netherlands
| | - Karin Roelofs
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, Netherlands
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Abstract
Stress is an adaptive response to environment aversive stimuli and a common life experience of one's daily life. Chronic or excessive stress especially that happened in early life is found to be deleterious to individual's physical and mental health, which is highly related to depressive disorders onset. Stressful life events are consistently considered to be the high-risk factors of environment for predisposing depressive disorders. In linking stressful life events with depressive disorder onset, dysregulated HPA axis activity is supposed to play an important role in mediating aversive impacts of life stress on brain structure and function. Increasing evidence have indicated the strong association of stress, especially the chronic stress and early life stress, with depressive disorders development, while the association of stress with depression is moderated by genetic risk factors, including polymorphism of SERT, BDNF, GR, FKBP5, MR, and CRHR1. Meanwhile, stressful life experience particularly early life stress will exert epigenetic modification in these risk genes via DNA methylation and miRNA regulation to generate long-lasting effects on these genes expression, which in turn cause brain structural and functional alteration, and finally increase the vulnerability to depressive disorders. Therefore, the interaction of environment with gene, in which stressful life exposure interplay with genetic risk factors and epigenetic modification, is essential in predicting depressive disorders development. As the mediator of environmental risk factors, stress will function together with genetic and epigenetic mechanism to influence brain structure and function, physiology and psychology, and finally the vulnerability to depressive disorders.
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